Mario & Luigi: Clash of Chaos is the fifth installment for the Mario & Luigi series. This is the first Mario & Luigi game to be featured on both handheld and home console, the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U respectively. The game included more characters that already have been introduced to the audience through the mainstream and side-games.

Contents

Story

Main Plot

Mario and Luigi are at Peach's Castle when suddenly an airship attacks. Bowser jumps through the roof and lands on the ground. Mario and Luigi engage battle with Bowser. Toadsworth gives them the Koopa Shell ability. The brothers claim victory. Peach is happy but Bowser stands up and says that he will come back with a big army, because he will get Peach. Mario grabs Bowser's tail and throws him away.

Being defeated once again, Bowser returns to his castle. He asks for the help of Kamek, and orders him to find a team who are the strongest, sneakiest and smartest of all. Kamek returns with Midbus, Popple and Fawful. At first Bowser says he does not want to team up with any of them. However Fawful convinces him that, although they had past troubles, them working together would surely bring the Mushroom Kingdom down, and let him get his Princess Peach.

Back at the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach asks the brothers if they want some cake, when suddenly Toadsworth walks in accompanied by Professor E. Gadd. Gadd proceeds to tell that some kind of mechanized airship of Bowser is destroying the Mushroom Kingdom by shooting Canon-Ombs to the ground. Mario, Luigi & Gadd quickly head outside and see that Toad Town is being destroyed. Gadd summons a helicopter to bring the heroes to the airship. The helicopter lands, but after that gets crushed by King Bob-Omb who jumped off the airship. After defeating him, Gadd says that he will try to make another vessel and gives them the communicator to keep in touch with him. As the brothers go back to the castle again they see Toadsworth, and others, unconscious on the ground. They wake him up, and Toadsworth tells that Bowser Jr. came and kidnapped the princess.

E. Gadd pages them and tells them that he has discovered that Fawful is in possession of a Star Drainer. It is an ancient device that can suck up all the energy of the kingdom in order to make it the ultimate weapon ever. And if he knows Fawful then he is going to mix it with his Vacuum Helmet. The only thing stronger than all the energy combined are the 7 Miracle Stars that aren't effected by the machine. If they are combined than the brothers might have a change of defeating Fawful and Bowser. The brothers agree in retrieving the 7 Stars, and E. Gadd will contact them when more info is discovered.

Toadsworth walks up to them and says that he doesn't know where the Miracle Stars are located, but people in town might know. The Mario Bros. eventually find their way to the library where they meet with Toadbert and Toadette. The two tell them there are no books about the 7 Stars in the library. However there is a book which contains information about where such a book is. They have to travel to the dark side of the Koopa Woods where the Ancient Library is located. The book there must show all the places where the Miracle Stars are located.

The brothers venture to the Ancient Library and must collect attack pieces in front of the gate of the building. Collecting all the pieces will grant them the Fire Flower ability. As they continue they are encountered by Polterpup who helps them find the book. The brothers retrieve the book and head outside again, because Luigi is too scared to stay at that place. Once in the bright side of the Koopa Woods again they encounter Midbus. Popple steals the book from Mario and Luigi and throws it to Bowser Jr. who flies away with it. The brothers battle Popple and Midbus, who flee after being defeated.

Mario and Luigi head back to Toad Town where they get a call from Professor E. Gadd. He tells that Bowser Jr. has gone to the Rock Rock Mountains, as there is a big ruckus going on there. However it is not wise to travel on the surface, so Mario and Luigi have to go to the undergrounds. They make their way to the catacombs underneath the mountain. They have to make their way up to the top of the mountain where Bowser Jr. is waiting on them in a giant drillmachine. Mario and Luigi have to dodge the attacks of the drill machine by standing on the weakest part of the ground. One hit there and they can jump down, and repeat the action several times. Bowser Jr. then drill through the undergrounds, but gets out with his Koopa Clown Car. He however left the book inside of the machine.

Mario and Luigi jump down into the hole where they must venture through the undergrounds till they eventually encounter a group of explorers: Kylie Koopa, Flora Flutter, Bloopregard, Bullit and Party Boo. They had found the book, and because Kylie knows them she gives the book to them. She then says that they must visit their camp in Rocky Wood.

Mario and Luigi make their way back to Toad Town and go to the castle where Gadd, Toadsworth, Toadbert and Toadette are waiting. They discover that the seven stars are scattered over the Mushroom Kingdom on these exact places: the Ancient Library, the Urchin Cave, Yoshi's Island's Volcano and Frost Mountain Summit. However a piece of the page is ripped out. While the brother's are searching for these stars, Gadd will try to discover the location of the missing piece of the page. The brothers can choose to go to one of the locations avalible.

The Mario Brothers arrive at the Illusion Forest where they are once again joined by Polterpup, and head to the Ancient Library. In the courtyard E. Gadd messages them that the ghost activity has rose since last time. The brothers must find the attack pieces to create the new ability Poltergust Mayhem. As they enter the library they must find their way through the bookshelf maze and find the portrait of the Shadow Queen. As they go through it they find themselves in a gloomy laboratory. The brothers see Sketch Star and want to retrieve it but are stopped by King Boo. After defeating King Boo they grab the star and exit the area.

The Mario Brothers arrive at the Shy Guy Beach where they have to go underwater but can't because they can't breathe underwater. They have to visit Bloopregard who learns them an ability that allows them to breathe underwater. They find the cave and see the Coral Star. A Kraken Blooper then appears and eats both the brothers and the Coral Star. They have to find the star again and head out of the body. Once they leave they have to battle the Kraken Blooper and exit the lake.

The Mario Brothers arrive at Yoshi's Island and go to Yoshi's Camp. The brothers want to explore the island but are stopped by Chief Yoshi who says they aren't allowed to pass unless they prove they are worthy of it. Chief Yoshi says that they need to cross the border into the Birdo Village and retrieve the "stolen" Baby Yoshi. As Mario and Luigi head out Yoshi joins them and explains that the Baby Yoshi is actually the love child of him and Birdo. They pick up Baby Yoshi and go back to the Yoshi Village afterwards and are granted passage to the res of the island. Mario, Luigi and Yoshi make their way to the volcano where they battle Kamek and obtain the Magma Star. They leave the island afterwards.

The Mario Brothers arrive at the Frost Mountain. There is a small village in Forst Mountain where friendly Penguins live. They say that their star is located at the top of the mountain. Mario and Luigi make their way to the top of the mountain. When they arrive at the top of the mountain they see the star inside of the ice. They try to get it out with their hammer but suddenly a Chilly Spiny landed on the mountain and breaks the ice. The brothers have to travel down to the Chilly Spiny, defeat him and retrieve the Snowflake Star. They head back to Professor E. Gadd afterwards.

As they return to Toad Town the Mario brothers are told that E. Gadd is at their home. The brothers go there but instead encounter the Elite Trio who have kidnapped E. Gadd. They say that they are going to stop them. They leave and take E. Gadd with them. The brothers go to Mushroom City where they see that Fawful is interogating E. Gadd. The brothers battle Fawful until he gives up and flees the scene. E. Gadd tells the brothers that the missing piece is located in Beanstalk Village. However Fawful also knows that now so they have to get there before he does. The brothers also discover that there is a battle arena in Mushroom City, however some Toads say it is still closed.

The brothers go to Rock Rock Mountain in order to reach the beanstalk leading to Beanstalk Village. The mountain however is now crowded with Monty Moles who are working there because of the many holes drilled into it. The brothers make their way up to Beanstalk Village and have to go to the mouth of the beanstalk where they encounter Popple and Bowser Jr. The brothers battle them but unfortunately fail to grab the piece because a Seed Piranha sprouted during the battle, ate the piece and walked off the beanstalk. Popple and Bowser Jr. say they will be the first one to be there.

The Mario brothers have to go down the mountain again and take the secret passage through the undergrounds to the Pipe Maze. There they have to avoid getting caught by Popple or Bowser Jr. They eventually will find the Seed Plant stuck inside one of the pipes and will have to smack it with a hammer to get it out and battle it (it's a regular enemy tho). They go inside the pipe into a new part of the underground where they eventually will see Petey Piranha asleep with the piece of paper tucked inside of his pants. Mario tries to grab it but Luigi gets scared of his own shadow and awakens Petey. The brothers battle Petey and defeat him, and claim the piece of paper. They return to Toad Town afterwards to talk to E. Gadd at his lab.

At E. Gadd's Lab they attach the paper to the book and discover that the last three stars are in the Thwomp Ruins, Star Hill and Peach's Castle. They of course decide to go to Peach's Castle but when arriving there they see an unconscious Toadsworth, Toadbert, Toadette and other Toads. The trail of swipes against the walls and other furniture leads to Peach's room where they encounter Captain Basilix. After defeating him, he only laughs and says that he will never be defeated. A rope drops down from the roof and Basilix, along with the Candy Star departs. As they come downstairs they see that E. Gadd helped the others recover, but have to tell him the Star was taken by Basilix. E. Gadd suggests that they should look for the other stars first.

The brothers now can access the Thwomp Ruins and Star Hills.

The Mario Brothers arrive in the Deserted Desert where suddenly all their stars get robbed by Nabbit. They have to chase Nabbit and must find him somewhere in the desert. As they find him Nabbit returns the stars and also wants to join them. The brothers travel to the Thwomp Ruins. As they enter they have to solve some puzzels in order to open the right entrance which leads to the Ancient Star. They obtain the star and leave the temple again. However once back in the Deserted Desert again a Sand Wiggler emerges from the ground and attacks the brothers, and Nabbit. They defeat it and exit the desert.

The Mario Brothers arrive at the Star Road which leads to Rainbow Road. On Rainbow Road they can go to several places of Star Hill. They shortly are encountered by Rosalina and Polari who greet them and ask what is wrong. She already sensed a disturbance in the energy as the stars on Star Hill are glowing less then before. The brothers explain what happened and Rosalina says she wants to help and joins them. Rosalina says that she had locked the Cosmic Star on a special part of Star Hill that required five of her Luma's. They had to find the Luma's and gather them in front of the gate to open it. As they do they see that a Blue Goomba in an UFO, Goombufo, just sucked up the Cosmic Star. Rosalina is shocked by how that could happen so she and the brothers fight Goombufo who releases the star afterwards. Rosalina gives it to the Mario brothers afterwards and they take their leave.

When returning in Toad Town, E. Gadd says that the Candy Star now is in Bowser's Castle after Captain Basilix brought it there. The Mario brothers head out to the Volcanic Plains and make their way over the lava rivers, and army of Bowser. Suddenly Bowser, Fawful, Bowser Jr, Midbus, Popple, Kamek and Captain Basilix appear. Bowser commands Midbus, Bowser Jr. and Popple to hold back the brothers as they continue preperations. The Mario brothers fights and defeat the trio and quickly continue.

They enter the castle and find the throne room of Bowser where Peach is locked up in a cage that is hanging above the lava. Bowser steps forwards and says that they won't get Peach so easily. The Mario brothers however defeat Bowser. Luigi gets Peach out of the cage and Mario throws Bowser in it, much to his anger. The brothers ask where the Candy Star is and Peach says that Fawful has it, but he has gone to his Mech Airship. Suddenly Kamek and the Elite Trio appear with a whole army. Peach says that they have to go as time is running out. But Mario won't let Peach alone. Suddenly E. Gadd, Polterpup, Yoshi, Birdo, Thunderfoot, Nabbit, Eario, Broque Monsieur Rosalina and the Exploration Team appear (transported by Rosalina). Rosalina says the brothers to go as they will take care of him.

The Mario brothers are teleported away by Rosalina to the Mech Starship. There they meet again with Fawful who smirks and says that they are too late because all the energy already has been drain from the Mushroom Kingdom. The Star Drainer almost is complete for use. The brothers fight him until he is defeated on which point Fawful connects the Star Drainer to his Vacuum Helmet and powers it up. The second battle is in process but once the Mario brothers got rid off half his health, Fawful drops the Candy Star. Now with all the stars they form the Miracle Star and use this one time power-up. They finally manage to defeat Fawful and release all the energy back to the kingdom. The Miracle Stars are scattered once again and return to their original location.

Mario and Luigi go back to the castle where they find Kamek passed out with some other enemies. Bowser is still trapped in the cage and it looked like they had saved the day. Peach thanked everyone for saving the kingdom and that they all could rest at home. Shortly afterwards everyone except Mario, Luigi and Peach disappeared. Peach turned to Bowser and said that she is really sorry that he is defeated once again, but asked why he just doesn't let her go. Bowser tells that they are meant for each other, but Peach counters that by saying that kidnapping and imprisoning isn't love. And that getting saved is love as she kisses Mario. Suddenly the chains of the cage get cut and the cage falls into the lave pit underneath it, to the heroes' shock. Dry Bowser jumps out and the brothers battle him, and luckily defeat him. Mario, Luigi and Peach also decide to return back to the castle.

Aftermath Plot

After the Mushroom Kingdom is saved Princess Peach gets a visit from Princess Daisy. She says she is in need of help because her castle was overtaken by someone, and she can't enter the castle because lightning is surrounding it. And the only way to put it out is by destroying the four generators in the four districts of Sarasaland.

Mario and Luigi are send over to Sarasaland and have to go by the four districs being: the underwater Bermuda: Muda, the culteral Easter Island: Easton, the ancient Egypt: Birabuto and the mythical ancient China: Chai. Once all the guardians of the generators have been defeated, and the generators have been shut down, the Mario brothers can enter Daisy's Castle. In there they will encounter Midbus and Robirdo. Midbus tells he had taken over this kingdom because he thought that he could lead a whole kingdom. However in the end got defeated by the Mario brothers and return the land back to Daisy.

Secret Ending

Once the Side Plot is completed a secret ending will be shown. Captain Basilix runs through the corridors of Bowser's Castle and cuts the chains of the cage that make Bowser fall into the lava. Basilix escapes unseen and meets up with someone in the Koopa Forest who asks if the first step in their plan is completed in a female sounding voice. Basilix nods and shows the person a lock of Bowser's hair.

Quests

Gameplay

Like in all the previous Mario & Luigi games, you can move in a 2-D fashion, and the regular world, where they freely roam the overworld. When encountering an enemy, you can either bump into them to engage battle, or jump on them to inflict damage at the start of the battle.

Upon defeating enemies you are rewarded with EXP (to level up), coins and often also items. Other items can be found in treasure chests, and other objects throughout the world. There also is a map, which shows the whole world map, but does indicate the exact location of the bros.

Battle system

Similar to the previous games Mario and Luigi have six different options during battle. These six options are: Jump, Hammer, Item, Bros. Attacks and Summons. Jump makes the selected character jump on the head of the enemy, and when timed right you can inflict more damage by pushing the jump button once more on impact. Jump also is used as counterattack. Hammer can de- or reflect projectiles and also can be used to hurt the enemy with in the same manner as the jump, only it has to be charged right on time. Bros. Attacks also include the current partner attack, and summons allows you to summon one of the granted summons.

The battle system also includes various degrees of performance for the Action Commands. In contrast to the binary "did you hit the button on time or didn't you" method of other titles, this game separates performance on Action Commands into five levels:

Nothing: You didn't use the Action Command at all.

OK: You used the Action Command, but timed it poorly.

Good: You used the Action Command, and timed it okay.

Great: You used the Action Command, and timed it well.

Excellent: You used the Action Command, and timed it very well. Most moves require perfect execution to get this rating, but some special moves will allow you to get away with one or two misses and still get an Excellent.

Stats

Each brother and partner have their own HP, SP, POW, DEF, DEX, and LUK. When they finish a battle, they each gain EXP Points and Coins. With enough Experience Points, they can level-up and increase each respective statistic.

HP, or Heart Points, indicate the amount of remaining health the player has. When an enemy hits one of Mario Bros. or Bowser, they lose HP. When their HP reaches zero, they pass out, but can be revived with a 1-Up Mushroom or 1-Up Deluxe. HP can be replenished with a Mushroom, a Nut or a Drumstick (Bowser only).

SP, or Special Points, indicates how many times Mario, Luigi, or Bowser can use a Special Move. Each attack uses up a certain amount of SP, draining the total. SP can only be restored by using Syrup.

POW, or Power, is how strong the fighter is. POW determines how much damage they can inflict.

DEF, or Defense, is how much damage the player can block from an enemy hit. The higher their DEF stats are, the less damage they will take.

DEX is how fast the player is. The more DEX a character has, the more they can attack the enemy in a single turn.

LUK is the most unique of the player's stats. The higher their LUK stats are, the greater there is a chance of a Lucky Hit, which doubles POW. Also, the player will be more likely to get hits on Scratch Cards with more LUK.

Status effects

Effects can be caused by enemies, gear and more. Some increase/decrease Mario and Luigi's stats and some them from attacking. Enemy effects can't be combined but others can.

Effect

Description

Trip

This effect makes either Mario or Luigi trip over, stopping them from avoiding a single attack. There is a rare chance that when it is their turn, they will not get up and attack.

Dizzy

This effect causes Dizziness to Mario, Luigi or enemy. They will not be able to attack or dodge for a turn.

Burn

This effect is similar to the Dizzy effect, but actually hurts Mario, Luigi or an Enemy. The effect ends after being hit either once or twice.

Freeze

This effect freezes Mario and Luigi, which causes them to no longer perform any regular moves. Only Special Attacks can get you out of the Freeze status, or wait for Mario and Luigi to melt again.

Mini

This effect makes either Mario and Luigi very small. It makes them inflict less damage. When in the dream world, using the jump or hammer attack when mini still causes the Luiginoids to be normal size.

Poison

Player turns purple and loses partial HP every turn.

POW Up

This effect increases the Power of Mario or Luigi. It can combined with the other increasing effects.

DEF Up

This effect increases the Defense of Mario or Luigi.

DEX Up

This effect increases the Speed of Mario or Luigi, allowing them to attack more regularly because they are faster than the enemies.

POW Down

This effect decreases the Power of Mario or Luigi. It can combined with the other decreasing effects.

DEF Down

This effect decreases the Defense of Mario or Luigi.

DEX Down

This effect decreases the Speed of Mario or Luigi, making the enemies attack before Mario and Luigi.

Out-of-battle techniques

Both brothers can perform a Jump.

The Hammer can be used to activate certain things.

Blooper Mask allows you to breathe under water.

Spin Jump can be used to travel farther horizontally in air.

Bros. Ball can roll into narrow paths and makes you travel faster.

Side Drill can drill through hard objects like boulders.

Ball Hop endlessly jumps and increases the vertical jump.

Partners

A new feature in the game is the inclusion of partners in certain areas of the Mushroom Kingdom. As you enter the area where a partner is avalible they will automatically start to walk along with you. When a partner is present in battle you can still only do two moves a turn, but you get to decide with who you want to attack. Also when the partner is present you will get a special Partner Attack. They work like the Bros. Attacks only they include, and involve, the partner.

Special Attacks

Bros. attacks

Name

Obtained

Description

Koopa Shell

Default

Like in the previous games lets the Bros. kick a shell back and forth. The shell goes faster with each kick.

Fire Flower

Koopa Forest

Like in the previous games lets the Bros. throw fire balls that are stronger when charged.

Poltergust Mayhem

Ancient Library

Luigi goes backwards and pulls out the Poltergust 5000. He runs forwards and sucks up all the junk Mario throws (from either up, below of front). The bigger the ball of junk the more damage it does.

Flutter Wings

Flora

Mario and Luigi have to fly through the air with Flutter wings while avoiding the pipes. The more pipes avoided the stronger the kick on the enemies will be. Once you hit a pipe you automatically perform the kick.

Music Block

Beanstalk Village

The right button has to be pressed on the right moment on the Music Block. Mario is carrying the Music Block while Luigi jump on the Music Block then on the enemy and then back on the Music Block. One miss and it is cancelled.

Double Cherry

Temple Ruins

The Bros. multiply and in random order will jump on the enemy, and the right button has to be pressed to inflict full damage and let the attack continue.

Pipe Bazooka

Eario

Catch as many junk that falls from the sky. The more junk the bigger the explosion will be. Junk like defect Bob-Ombs and Thwomp bits are stronger than Bananas and Empty Item Boxes.

Partner attacks

Partner

Attack

Description

Polterpup

Play Dead

Luigi must try and keep a hold of Polterpup for a certain amount of time to turn him into a giant dog that then runs across the screen into the enemies. If he releases too late the move will fail.

Yoshi

Fruit Shoot

Mario rides Yoshi and must eat as much fruit as he can in a certain amount of time. Yoshi proceeds to shoot all the fruit at the enemies.

Nabbit

Treasure Hunter

You must juggle the treasure bag of Nabbit for a certain amount of time, after that an useful item can come out. The longer you juggle the better the item is.

Rosalina

Assist Luma

Rosalina summons Apricot, Co-Star and Polari to mimic Mario, Luigi and her attacks respectively for three turns.